Our Mission

The Domenica Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life for underserved communities in South Jersey. We fund programs that provide education, food, housing, and other resources that open the door of opportunity and enable people to thrive.

See how we and our partners carried out this mission in our 2022 annual report!
Archive: 2021 annual report

Our Mission

Our Vision

The Domenica Foundation respects the dignity of every individual and family in our South Jersey communities. Our guiding principle is summed up in the Italian word dovere, meaning duty or responsibility. We are all responsible for one another. Join the Domenica Foundation and the Piperno family in building communities where our neighbors have all the resources they need and the opportunities they deserve.

Our Staff

Pepe Piperno

Adolfo “Pepe” Piperno founded the Domenica Foundation in 1991 in honor of his mother, Domenica. Pepe grew up in Camden, which he remembers as a vibrant city where neighbors took care of each other and children could thrive. At the age of 13, he got a part-time job at Sbar’s, a small store in Camden that specialized in arts & crafts products. As the company grew, Pepe rose through the ranks to become CEO. He later acquired the retail chain A.C. Moore. As the Domenica Foundation’s CEO and chief cheerleader, he carries out his mother’s values by sharing his success with his beloved Camden and the surrounding area.

Elena Piperno

Elena Piperno is the executive director of the Domenica Foundation. She has grown up with the foundation, living out her nonna’s (grandmother’s) values of caring and generosity. Elena remembers delivering food to Sacred Heart with her father Pepe Piperno in the early days of the foundation, when she was only six years old. As she worked in her father’s arts and crafts businesses, primarily in corporate giving and marketing, she continued her contributions to the Domenica Foundation’s mission to give back to underserved communities in Camden and South Jersey.

History

Pepe Piperno founded the Domenica Foundation in 1991, naming the family foundation after his mother, Domenica. In the early days, the Piperno family delivered food, diapers, and Christmas gifts to local charities. Not long after, Pepe responded to the need for quality education in Camden by sponsoring scholarships to enable children from low-income families to attend Catholic schools.